Tuesday, 4 March 2014

More than a year ago a vaccine against meningitis B was
licensed for use in the UK. Licensed but not brought in – unless you can afford
hundreds of pounds to pay for it privately.

The vaccination committee that advises the government has
been considering whether (or not) this jab should be part of the immunisation
schedule. That would mean it’s given to every baby, as part of your routine
jabs, for free on the NHS.

Adding another vaccine to the schedule isn’t an easy
decision to make. Spending millions and millions of pounds in a time of cuts
isn’t easy either. But protecting every baby in the UK against a disease that
kills – on average - two children every week, seems like a no brainer.

Because if a disease is preventable, surely we’d want to
prevent it?

Meningitis is the disease parents fear most because it’s so
hard to diagnose and can take a child’s (or adult’s) life in just a few hours.
There are many causes of meningitis and in the last 20 years vaccines have
reduced cases dramatically. But in the UK meningitis still kills more under 5s
than any other infectious disease.

As a mum, I want to protect my children in any way I can.

I don’t want to feel that fear and dread every time my child
hides away from bright lights, complains of a stiff neck, or worse still, has a
rash that looks out of the ordinary.

I don’t want to be that parent telling the tragic tale of
how my child was taken from me in hours.

I don’t want to live in fear of a disease that I know can be
prevented.

That’s why I’m joining Meningitis Now’s campaign to bring in
the meningitis B vaccine. A campaign that’s going direct to the top. The
decision is with the Health Secretary now. Jeremy Hunt, it’s over to you.

Join the campaign by sharing this post or writing your own.
Talk about it on Facebook or send this tweet to the man himself.